Sophos Network Protection for RED Management Soon Required
Strictly speaking, you need a Network Protection license for REDs or SD-REDs on the Sophos Firewall. We also state this on the product page for the Sophos SD-RED.
In practice, however, even though Sophos intended this requirement, the license has not actually been required so far. RED management has continued to work without a Network Protection license.
As Sophos itself writes, the company deliberately refrained from enforcing the license requirement during the pandemic. In Q1 2023, however, Sophos plans to disable RED management in the SFOS v19.0 MR2 and v19.5 MR1 updates if no valid Network Protection license is present.
FAQ
How can I check if I have a Network Protection license?
On the firewall, you can open the license page from Administration > Licensing or from About product in the menu at the top right. There you can see whether you have a valid Network Protection license.
I have a valid Network Protection license. Which VPN features are included?
Site-to-Site (IPsec VPN, SSL VPN, RED Site-to-Site), including RED management.
I do not have a valid Network Protection license, only the Base License. What happens now?
IPsec VPN, SSL VPN, and RED Site-to-Site will continue to work. However, REDs and SD-REDs can no longer be managed and will lose their connection to the firewall.
What is the difference between REDs and SD-REDs?
REDs are the older models RED 15, RED 15w, and RED 50. The new models are the SD-RED 20 and SD-RED 60.
End-of-Life: RED 15(w) and RED 50
This post is about REDs, so it is worth pointing out the End-of-Life date once again for the following models:
- Sophos RED 15
- Sophos RED 15w
- Sophos RED 50
On August 31, 2023, these appliances will go End-of-Life and must be replaced by the new SD-RED 20 or SD-RED 60 models. All important End-of-Sale and End-of-Life dates are available in our Sophos Product Lifecycle Calendar.
